Germaine de Randamie Issues Statement After UFC Strips Her of Featherweight Title

The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Monday issued a statement that it had stripped women’s featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie of her belt. In making the statement, officials announced that Cris “Cyborg” Justino would meet Invicta FC featherweight titleholder Megan Anderson at UFC 214 in a battle for the vacant UFC title.

“UFC maintains that any champion is expected to accept fights against the top contenders in their respective weight classes in order to maintain the integrity of the sport.”

On the heels of the UFC’s announcement, de Randamie issued her own statement via social media. She certainly didn’t sound pleased with the UFC’s decision or its manner of implementing it, but appeared to be resolved to continue fighting.

“As many of you will know, the UFC has stripped me from the belt,” she wrote. “For those of you who do not know what that means, the UFC has taken my title because I refuse to fight against their number one challenger. (I have my reasons for that.)

“It’s great to hear this news from the media and I’m sorry that it’s running, but it is what it is!

“Well, I hear you thinking again, ‘She’s scared! What a bad champion! A shame for the sport! She did not deserve to be a champion! Etc., etc.’ I’ve seen it all.

“But apart from what everyone thinks, I’m walking my own path. And there you can agree or not. That I’m stripped does not mean I’m going to stop. This only means that I have even more reasons to knock NOG (literally sometimes) for which I stand and what I want.

“The UFC is not long for me!! It’s easy to stand with the crowd. It takes Courage to stand alone. ‘Die with memories not dreams!'”